When people imagine Heaven or Paradise, many of them picture themselves surrounded by pups of all sizes and breeds who are impatiently awaiting their pets. Some people have done this and surrounded themselves with happy K9s to create a miniature version of heaven on earth. One such person is Arat Montoya, a citizen of West Linn City, Oregon.
Arat moved to Canby at the age of 15, having grown up in Mexico. My dad wanted me to become a baker since my family is a family of bakers, he said, according to The Oregonian. After the Dog Club of West Linn, a dog daycare center, closed, he kept working with a few clients out of his home, doing boarding and dog watching. He remembered, “I said, ‘I’m sorry Dad, I love dogs,'”
Arat founded Doggie School Bus Inc. as a dog daycare company in 2016 to better support his growing family. He would drive his iconic yellow “Doggie School Bus” to a client’s house in the early morning to pick up their pups. Afterward, he would lead them to a 5-acre estate that he was renting from a friend. The dogs would interact and play with Arat and the other puppies here for the majority of the day. When school was dismissed for the day at 2 o’clock, the man drove the dogs back to their owners.
The day of puppy play cost $30 at the time, and each puppy had to pass a temperament test to join the pack. The great marketing idea quickly became well-known. In his area, the idea spread swiftly, and clients soon started to show up. “In just two weeks, I signed up 16 new clients. People were going nuts,” he remembered, nostalgically telling The Oregonian. Due to the overwhelming demand, he had to buy bigger, larger cars to pick up and transport the puppies.
Many of the dogs quickly leave their houses when they hear the guy’s car arrive because they are so eager to go to “school.” In 2019, he served over 300 clients and had to care for roughly 20 puppies per day. If he was certain the puppies could behave well, he might raise the number to 30. “I’ve never had a problem with a pit bull. He asserted, “I’ve never had an issue with a Rottweiler or a German shepherd.” But let me tell you, I’ve had an issue with a Chihuahua.
Arat believes that the nicest aspect of doing all of this is spending time with the dogs, who enjoy playing and connecting. He knows the names of every dog and can distinguish the majority of them based just on their bark. I’m the happiest man in the world doing what I’m doing, he declared. We hope that there won’t be any stopping these puppy daycare “schools” anytime soon.